<Begin Segment 35>

SN: I'd like to ask you a question that's kind of along the same line but maybe a little bit different. How do you think the internment changed your life? And what was the one lesson that you learned from the internment experience?

SH: Oh, that's kinda hard. One thing evacuation did was speed up getting married. I probably would have waited a couple more years, but I don't regret the fact that I married young. I married younger than most of them did at that time.

AI: Why did it speed up your marriage?

SH: Well, we didn't know where we were gonna go. We thought we were gonna get separated. See, so long as you got married you're not gonna be separated. You might have been good friends but they were gonna get separated. I say, we were gonna wait awhile, but we said, "Oh, let's get married. They might send you someplace, and we'll be someplace else and be separated." So, there was no doubt in my mind, at that time or a little later on, that I'd marry her and no one else. She was my wife, my eventual wife was my second girlfriend. I dated one girl for three, four months -- classmate. And, no problem, but I don't know, one day I... here she was four years behind me in school. And took her to a skating party and started dating regular after that. Then the war started and we had to leave. That's how I happened to get married little earlier than usual. And she, she was only nineteen, that's a little young. Well, today a lot are getting married at nineteen, but nineteen you're not, you're out of high school but if you want further education you're in college. You don't get married until after you get out of college. I've never regretted it.

Only thing I regret was I only had one son. Month after she had my son she had a kidney removed. She had only one kidney. Her left kidney was removed, and so the doctor said that, "If you didn't have one I'd say go ahead and have a child, but at least you've got one son. So I'd advise against having another child. It may endanger your health." I said, he said, "I wouldn't guarantee it." So, we didn't have any more sons, any more children. A lot of people, I've been asked by many, "How come you only got one child?" They don't know the history of my wife's health. I have just two granddaughters.

So the Hayashida name will go, will be gone now, by the time this is... 'cause my son is fifty, fifty-three, and just the two girls. That don't bother me any, but lot of Isseis would, the Isseis always wanted to be sure that the name, family name kept going. If they didn't have nothing but daughters, they had, they adopted a son, son-in-law to carry on the family name. And that son got married and he had to take the maiden name, maiden, his wife's surname, change his name. That's why you find some Isseis got two surnames, or not -- yeah, two surnames. One couple, one friend, and they'll say, Mr. So-and-So. So you take another friend and you're talking about the same man but you've got another name for him. And I said, "How come?" And then they explained to me, the first time this happened to me. They're supposed to, in Japan you're supposed to take, if you're a yoshi, you're supposed to take your wife's maiden surname. They did while they were there, they come over here and they went back. Some men I know have got two surnames, depending on who they are. But, that doesn't happen anymore.

AI: Is there anything that else you'd like to add, anything else...

SH: I talked for three hours. I'm talked out. I don't think I could add much to it. Some of that rambled on, but you could delete it. Be sure you... what you call that term?

SN: Edit?

SH: You could edit.

AI: Thank you very much for your time.

SN: You did a wonderful job.

SH: Well, okay. Somebody has to do it. And it seems like I end up doing it. Nobody wants to do some of these jobs. Every time I'm out there, same thing, have to represent the community, I have to do it. But, I think that somebody should. Shouldn't have to be me, every time. I should... I do, I believe that we should, because then history will die if you don't. So I do. I'd like to have somebody take some of the jobs over. But that's...

<End Segment 35> - Copyright © 1997 Densho. All Rights Reserved.